Gold: a review of the market situation

Gold prices declined moderately today, but remained above $ 1,200 per ounce, which is associated with the strengthening of the US dollar and expectations of the publication of the protocol of the last meeting of the FOMC. Remember, today at 18:00 GMT Fed will publish the minutes of the meeting of the Committee on Open Market (FOMC) Federal Reserve on March 17-18. "Gold will cost a little less $ 1,200 per ounce as the dollar remains stable. Investors will try to guess when the Fed will raise the rate, considering each statistics, every document," - said analysts IG Ltd. It is worth emphasizing the delay in raising interest rates tend to contribute to the demand for gold, as it reduces the relative cost of metal retention by ensuring increased profits for investors.

The course of trade also affected the statement made by the Fed Powell, who noted that a significant increase in the dollar has a negative impact on the economy. According to him, the first rate increase may occur in June, but the state of the US economy may force the regulator to push this decision at a later date. Powell added that markets alone can give a signal indicative of the need for policy tightening. At the same time, he spoke in favor of the "progressive" approach to raising the cost of lending.

Decline in gold prices is also due to the weakening of investment demand for gold bullion. Gold reserves in the largest investment fund SPDR Gold Trust fell Tuesday at 2.39 tons to the level of 733.06 tons, which is the lowest since January 16, 2015.

Physical demand for gold in China is not very high - the price of the Shanghai Gold Exchange is almost equal to the reference spot price. "The Chinese have a more interesting investment options than gold. Stocks are rising, and now they can still buy futures on bonds. With this in mind, investors do not see any reason to buy precious metals," - said an analyst at Phillip Futures Howie Lee.

May futures for gold on the COMEX today fell to 1204.00 dollars per ounce.